Week 26-28 Leaving Again!

2/1/17

This transfer has taught us a lot of things. Patience, Long suffering, and humbling yourself before the Lord....you can't do it on your own...its impossible that way. It has made me get on my knees and pray more and harder than I ever have before. We have started our mornings praying and seeking for unplanned opportunities to find people.

Am I giving up hope...no, but is it hard to keep an upbeat attitude...yes. So this week I have been trying to be happier about teaching the gospel and having more love for the people of Parker even though everyone is mean hahaha! We had a gun threat right to our face last week that was fun! I have learned that the deeper your understanding is of the atonement the more you will appreciate going out and working and it is sooo true. If Jesus loves me so much that he was willing to take upon him MY sins, than how much more important and how much more does he love those you haven't heard the cry of repentance. So I am going to repent daily, and pray to love the people. Serve with Love, Christ did and I love Christ so I am going to serve with it. Hopefully the journey then will be more Joyful (in that aspect of it all)

 I love it! I love this gospel, I love how it has made my life better, I love you and Dad and Izzy and Avery so much and I miss you everyday. I keep you in my prayers and I pray that a missionary opportunity comes your way. Be a missionary, start today.

2/6/17

Hey I'm leaving and  being transferred again and going to another bike ward! Red Leaf area in Westminster, Co. 

Hey, guess what! I just heard news that the guy I started teaching back in Aravada, Laren Thompson, got baptized! Oh that is so exciting! It feels so good! whew!!

2/13/17
 This is going to be the best transfer ever! I love Elder Reynolds! Its only like day 5 and he is already my favorite companion ever!  He is from Spanish Fork Utah! He is such a good missionary and he is super funny! I have never laughed so hard in my life! The Westminster zone is such a good zone too! Everybody plays basketball so P-day today is going to be really fun! Weather has been super warm lately! Our area is struggling so hopefully we can get some work done! I keep forgetting my camera so I can't send pictures but I have a ton! But yeah it kinda stinks that I am leaving and on bike again but we go bunny hopping over prairie dog holes. Up until now I have never seen them in my life. I think they are so cool but Elder Reynolds throws rocks at them haha thats fun! We talk to a lot of people though in our area! Elder Reynolds is not afraid to talk to anyone its awesome!

Paige as far as I know is still on date for the 25th! Elder Reynold's friend at home is getting baptized this Saturday so that is a cool experience for him! Not a whole lot to talk about this week! Glad Mom had fun in Florida! Man I wish I was home with Alex right now!  I just wish I could be there for him and just help him.

I finished the book of Mormon like a week and a half ago.   I love it! I have read it three times on my mission so far! My testimony of it has grown a lot!  

I'm happy, excited and  loving the work and ready to go! So don't be worried about me. I'm getting invited back for the baptism so I am not worried! I love you mom and dad have a good week!  

 Mother's note:  We received this picture and text from a couple who fed Elder Brown this week.

"Our ward mission leader (who is also a senior missionary) said we have two of the best missionaries in the whole mission, and now is the time to invite our friends to meet with the missionaries.  Thanks for lending us your son.  We had a great time listening to his music tonight."  -The Reichmans

 Me and my companion took this squirrel we found in our apartment and at night we went by this church and put it on the sign! People went to the church this Sunday and they were looking at the squirrel and why it was there but nobody moved it so they must think it is supposed to be there!HAHA

 The new Squad!

Week 25 I WILL Go and Do

Hey we put Paige on Date!!  It was an awesome lesson we had inside a members home! Sister Alley is a convert so she relates to Paige really well! We had a testimony meeting and it was a perfect way to invite the spirit and use that as a gateway into the baptismal invite. Invites can be awkward but the spirit gave me everything I needed to say so it actually wasn't awkward at all. She seems very committed and she said that she is going to pray about the date we set for her. She doesnt think it is a coincidence that we got an answer to our prayers about this date. We put her on date for the 25th of February! Izzy's Birthday hahaha! Celebrating Izzy's birth and Paige's rebirth so quite the theme going on that day! So exciting gave me a lot more energy! 

 

Anyway there are 2 things that have really sparked my testimony about leaving on a mission. I thought back to an experience I had back in high school. You may not remember this but one night Tyler Thomas was having a bonfire at his house for his birthday. Everyone was sober there and nobody was planning on having alcohol there. A lot of people were there but more and more started coming along. Then somebody brought a couple of cases of alcohol. I remember you telling me that night that I could go and stay for a little but to be home by 11 because I had to get up early for something. That plays a role later in the story. I continued on talking to people at the party and even to the people that were drinking because I didn't want to ignore them just because they were drinking. I actually went inside because Alex was in there and a couple more friends just to see and I started talking to people in there and I was having a good time, so leaving to be home by 11:00 didn't resonate with me too well. But as I was downstairs and was looking at the clock which I actually remembered to do I felt a prompting to get out of there and leave and be home by 11:00.   Surprisingly I haven't felt such a strong warning or spiritual prompting. I still didn't want to leave but I finally got to the car and left. Alex said he was leaving in like 5 minutes anyway so that made me feel a lot better. At the time as I was driving home I thought to myself why did the spirit prompt me to leave, was it to be obedient to my parents or whatever other reason I couldn't really think of. So I was kind of was angry and frustrated. I wanted to come home and talk about how all my friends parents don't care they can stay out as late as they want because they have their parents trust, and I have never drank or done anything to bring dishonor to my family and yet they still don't trust me enough to stay........I get a call a minute later from my Alex. He said are you driving home I said yes, he then told me to pull over and listen. I pulled over and he tells me whispering the cops showed up and he snuck around back and got in his car and kinda sat and watched as the police busted some kids there for alcohol and even the kids that weren't intoxicated. I thought about that story and the role the spirit played. I felt a prompting to leave.   I didn't know what for in the moment but I realized that after I left and got a call from my cousin that they caught a few there.  

 

What I took from that lesson were two things. Listen to the promptings of the spirit, but I can relate it to why I decided to serve a mission. Because sometimes we don't quite understand why we do certain things in the moment. Growing up in the church I always understood the importance of going on a mission and that it was a pretty big deal. My biggest issue was being worthy to enter the mission field. but another big concern I had was that I didn't understand why I should go on a mission. I didn't really pray about going, and I didn't really get a super strong spiritual push to serve a mission. But I thought back to that experience I had leaving Tyler's party. Sometimes we don't know why we leave but we see the blessings from leaving. I have seen numerous blessing from leaving and being on a mission. I have truly learned the meaning of work, I have truly seen the meaning of patience, I have truly seen the meaning of humbling yourself before the Lord and asking him how to direct your path because I am weak and through him I can be made strong. I have learned how to talk to people and turn my feelings into words. I have seen the blessings of the Lord in other people's lives including less actives investigators and active members. I have seen the blessings from the scripture in D&C , "If you have a desire to serve God, ye are called to the work." You don't have to be a spiritual powerhouse to enable you or grant you the opportunity to serve a mission. If you truly love god and want to show your love for him you are qualified for the work. Some people have to pray and ask God if this is right for them because they doubt or they fear and that's okay because everyone is different. I have been the type to always recognize when you put your trust in the Lord and follow him there is nothing to be scared of. To the youth of Lancaster I want to say this. " I will go and do the things the lord commands, I know the Lord Provides a way he wants me to obey" it is said simply in the well known primary verse. The Lord will provide a way, he will shape you and mold you as you serve a mission. Don't be scared, it is scary but it is not impossible. Truly, with the lords help everything is possible...he will provide a way. Serve a mission do it! It will be one of your lifes greatest blessings, because you have the opportunity to change others lives and at the same time and more importantly your life will be changed. It has changed mine. It has given me capabilities..... I didn't even know I had. I was Moses, I was slow of speech but when I opened my mouth the words came out. I have been able to speak and express my thoughts and feelings. That is such a huge blessing to me because I could never do that at home. I had to think about things for a long time before I could express what I felt. Now it is no longer an issue. The Lord will mold you I will say it again! He will shape you because as you serve God with all your Heart Might mind and Strength, he will recognize your effort and faith and in return give you power. This truly is the Lords church and it is run by the Priesthood authority the only authority directly given to a modern day prophet and given to every worthy male! The Book of Mormon is true. As you read from the Pages more and more it will teach you and strengthen you so that when you bare testimony of it, the spirit will be even more powerful! And it is the evidence that all that I said is true. That Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. That we have a living Prophet on the earth who holds the keys to run his church. This gospel is for us! It is apart of our lives, live it, and see the blessings and the fruits that come. So youth 3 things to do to prepare for your mission. 1.) read the scriptures. 2.) humble yourselves before the lord and repent of all your transgressions. Then 3.) Go, serve a mission! That is my testimony. 

 My Jesus moment!

I hope this is okay dad, share that with the youth word for word, I feel prompted that something I said is what some kid needs to hear.

   

Dinner at the Condie's

Week 24 GOD is a God of Second Chances

Aloahaaaaaaaa! How are you doing!

 A Couple of things to talk about this week! Paige is still progressing she came to church this week ahhhhhh!!! That was exciting.  She doesn't like large crowds so that is hard for her but she stayed for all three hours! There are some couples  that are her age....Sisters Burt and Sister  Mcken our ward missionaries and Paige loves them so that helps her feel comfortable at church! Her son is crazy! He is off the wall and he loves hitting me and my companion over and over again.  So sometimes I grab his hands and step on his feet so he can't move and he always laughs and struggles to move and when I let him go he comes right back and hits me, so trying to get him in control is hard. He came to Church with Paige and went to primary.  He is sane in class because he is not around us but after all his classes he found us and started whacking us again so that's Kalen! I'm making him a deal next time we go over for  lesson. That is when we go we play with him for 15 minutes and then teach him and his mom for 45 minutes! Hopefully that might help and so we can get his energy out and then have him join in on our lessons because I feel they should be baptized together. We are putting Paige on date this Saturday and we are going to have a lesson in the Alley home! 

They are a BOMB family and they take care of us! She is a convert and they have 4 kids. He is in the air force but they both love to bike. So they have this huge garage full of bikes and really nice ones. So they hook me and Elder Cluff up with biking gadgets or tubes or whatever we need. Their son is a wicked piano player and he is only 14 he will be a master by the time he is done. He practices an hour each day! 

Our one investigator that was on date for the 28th dropped us and said that she doesn't want to meet or feel rushed and she wants to continue to read the BOM on her own. That's always tough but hopefully she will keep coming to church and feel the need to meet again with the intentions of joining the church. She knows the Book of Mormon is true. She even says how can it not be true. We tried to tell her when you say the Book of Mormon is true you say that Joseph Smith did restore that priesthood authority to the earth and that this really is the true church of God! She doesn't understand how that works. It is probably the most challenging to explain to people how that does work! The Book of Mormon doesn't have a middle ground. There aren't some parts that are true and others that are. it is either 100% true or 100% false. That is why we invite people to read the book of Mormon and ask God if it is truly his word. It's hard because she says that she has already been baptized before in her other church. Not saying that her church is bad because churches provide a lot of hope and light for tons of people and I love that! It's just that if she says the book of Mormon is true and the  church that she knows that the priesthood of God that was on the earth during Christ's time is here on the earth and that although those other churches are great and teach a lot of truth, that they dont have the authority to perform that ordinance of baptism. I have learned on my mission that those conversations can be a very touchy subject but I can bare testimony of how powerful the BOM really is. It has brought so much truth and light to my life and now and I know that the Book of Mormon and the Bible go hand in hand. they truly are both Gods word. The book of Mormon being an account from the ancient inhabitants of America and the Bible being an account of the people of Jerusalem. God loves his people everywhere and I know that God would not leave those people stranded in the Americas a long time ago. The teachings of God never change he wants them to be taught everywhere and to everyone. If someone who dies and leaves this earth doesn't have that opportunity now they will have that opportunity in the next life. God is a God of 2nd chances and we have as many chances on this earth to get it right because of his atonement which is real! Without it we cannot be saved. But that doesn't mean that we can just accept our savior and everything is okay. If we truly love our savior we will show him by keeping his commandments and trying our best to show our faith everyday. We will never be perfect nor will we ever achieve perfection here on this earth but that doesn't stop us from trying our best. By grace we are saved after all that we can do. That is what truly defines grace, when we can't go any further and the Lord swoops in and grabs us and lifts us up. We need to make that effort and he will help us the rest of the way. 

Life is great! be happy, turn to the Lord in all that you do and you will come off conquerer to Satan! Pray often! 

Love you Mom and Dad and  everyone!

Week 23 It was cold this week.

Hi MOM!  How is it going? New year fresh start, One more Christmas left hahaha!

Everytime I begin my email I have no idea where to start I just throw my thoughts down!

This week was tough. It was so cold ! I had so many layers on but when you are outside for 4 hours the cold starts penetrating through your gloves and shoes so that has been tough. I started to complain like Laman and Lemuel and started to murmur....Why can't I be in a car this winter. I have been complaining especially because everyone we tried to see this week wasn't home and so it has been extremely frustrating to walk out in -1 degrees for 4 hours and nobody lets us in but its not keeping us down. Everyday we have always had a really good lesson with our progressing investigators. We had 3 investigators show up to church and this transfer I have been relying wholeheartedly on the spirit. The members have been so awesome. We are meeting with this woman named Paige.  She is 30 years old and has a 9 year old son named Kalen.    Every time we go over to her house her son is always out of control and being insanely disrespectful to his mom. She is going through a lot of stress being a single mom.  I can only imagine her troubles. There were times I wanted to discipline that kid and scold him so I think my inner Kelly was coming out.....just teasing! But the spirit couldn't be there and she would learn but the spirit couldn't work with her to help with her conversion. So I had the impression that we needed to have a lesson in a members home so Kalen could play with the kids.  And we could have two members testimonies( which one of them btw is a convert her age) would help her. The family is awesome and Sister Alley related so well with her and the spirit was  so strong and we finally committed her to read the BOM everyday and to come to church.  She is coming next week,  I'm excited. As missionaries in our district meeting we always express the importance of having members come along to lessons. They make a huge impact. Hopefully you can invite the missionaries into our home  with an investigator they are teaching. You will be blessed so much mom and you will always know what to say. Just sit and listen to the spirit. 

We had the investigator that we put on date come to church and she actively participates in gospel principles class. She is awesome! She continues to read the BOM and continues to learn more. She  still wants to learn more and doesn't like the bap date over her head but that will change as she continues to pray and read the BOM.   The Lord will pour out his spirit I know he will. 

 My comp is great. He is a spiritual powerhouse and He is a super hard worker and very obedient.  He helps me a lot.  The Ward is big, awesome members, they really take care of us! 

I'm actually getting good at shopping. Chicken breast, peanut butter, eggs, hot sauce, fruit, cereal, sandwich meat, bread and milk is all I need to survive hahaha.  I'm doing another musical number.  Today feels like 70 degrees.  I love it!

Other than that, that has been our week. New Years was pretty uneventful hahaha.  I wish I was at grandmas like old times. I wanted to be by my whole extended family and hope when I come back home that I can continue to do activities with Grandma and the kids. 

I miss you mom and dad.  I'm thankful for all your support, and keeping me up to date on what is going on at home.

Mom I love you. This is my weeks letter.

Elder Brown

--

WEEK 21 & 22 Holy Crap I Love it Here!!

My prayers have been answered! Wow what a start to our new area. I was Transferred to Parker area. Opening it back up.   Elder Cluff my new companion is only 3 months out and is already a stud missionary. His testimony is so strong and he is the nicest elder ever. I can be myself around this stud and we work super well together and get along real well.

Lets talk about our first day! Me and Elder Cluff got to our apartment at like 11:30 in the morning. The apartment hasn't had anyone living in it for the last 4 months. The elders before left it completely trashed. The trash wasn't taken out,  the shower wasn't clean! It smelled nasty and there was a pile of dirty dishes in the sink piled up to the cupboards above grosss! I was pretty ticked off but I got over it and once I cleaned everything, I  was fine. By the way, Elder Cluff was new to the area also,  so we swept in both of us to the area not knowing anything. We got to the apartment and said well lets build this place up. For about 4 hours we went  and started studying the area book and the people the missionaries have taught and the tons of work that the missionaries before weren't doing. After that we took another hour and started calling investigators, less actives, and recent converts. We set up appointments with tons of people so there is a lot of work to be done. That night we went to our Ward mission leaders house and let me tell you how awesome he is. He typed up this sheet of the most progressing and lessons taught to them and members from the ward who have fellow shipped them and there was a list of about 30 people that haven't been contacted in a while. We started working with him and said if we needed anything just let him know. He then took us to the store bought us our groceries showed us around the area and the day after he came to two lessons we had as the member present. He is in his 60's never served a mission but is a great teacher. That day which was two days ago we already had 4 lessons, 2 with new investigators who really want to learn more. The next day we had an amazing lesson, committed a less active couple who hasn't come to church in forever to come to church and they said they will. We really connected. That evening we were able to get another member to come along with another investigator we had. The member that came with us was a convert and related super well with the investigator. The investigator is half way through the book of Mormon and really wants to learn more, I was feeling the spirit so strong in the lesson and we put her on baptismal date for the 28th of January and she is coming to church this week! WOW what a week already and a hot start! 

 

The members are awesome we get fed every night and brother Night said there are 5 ward missionaries in the ward and all the members are engaged in missionary work. Even the bishop is super engaged in missionary work. Honestly this is a blessing from the Lord. Although all these good things are happening it has been pushing us to work harder than we have ever worked before. I have no time to dilly dally and it is very time consuming. Truthfully, I am starting to feel like a real missionary and the spirit is working with me more than it ever has before. I know the Lord has called me to this area and even though biking stinks in the freezing cold it is worth it! I want to stay here for a while and with Elder Cluff! I know this is where I need to be

Last week was interesting, I was very emotionless, because face timing you didn't feel real at all. Although it was really good to see your face in person it didn't feel real. I was honestly in shock the whole time. Sorry if I was acting weird. but I bet you were as happy to see me as happy I was to see you. It was still really good to see your faces.

 A gift I bought myself with some of the Christmas money!

Tell Everyone Thank you!

 I love to play Chess!Thanks Grandma!

Remember the savior and what he did this Christmas season and you will find more joy.

Happy New Year!!!!!

Elder Brown 

Week 20- This Christmas started out as a challenge!

 OOPS!

 I am greatly Blessed!Thank you for the tree!

It's cold and snowy!

Hey Mom and Dad!

Holy guacamole it was a cold one this week. I was outside tracting for 2 hours in -12 degrees.   I had so many layers on hahaha! We taught and found 3 new investigators that day and mainly because people saw how cold we were. But we taught this couple and I felt at that time that I was supposed to be there teaching them! Sometimes I have had those moments on my mission. I got everything you sent except the letter.  I should get that today. I got the Christmas gifts from you and Aunt Karen. I got the hand prints from the brown family and the Anderson's. Hey I am emailing this Saturday because Monday the library is close so p-day is on Saturday. We are calling Sis Bracy to get every detail and I will relay that info to you on Saturday because we are face timing Sunday. Facetime will be okay!  

I'm glad you liked the video I sent. I recorded myself like 3 times. Twice in the bathroom and the one time on the chair that I was leaning back and forth on. The two I thought were way to long and I couldn't send one longer than 2 minutes and After I was done recording the first two I looked at the length and it was like 6 minutes. So I gave up on condensing so I decided to make it short and sweet and funny. Glad that everyone thought it was funny!

 6 more dayzzz......whew!!! I'm excited and am prepared for you too cry. To be honest I don't feel homesick this Christmas at all and here is why.... 

This Christmas started out as a challenge. Being away from home in the freezing cold getting doors slammed in your face isn't what I have ever pictured Christmas to be like haha! But my ward family and all of my extended family sent me little hand prints with little encouraging messages on them which  I taped each individually to my paper Christmas tree dangling from the wall (WHICH FELL 5 TIMES so I finally used duck tape and its been fine) I read every note which was about over a hundred and by the end I was sobbing and just filled with the spirit. You're right, I have a lot of support from my friends and family back home and that made me feel Christs warmth despite the freezing cold hahaha.  I didn't even care for the gifts or packages that were sent because the best gift that was given was Christ's radiant love that he has for Me. And I felt that sitting on the floor balling my eyes out. I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a while.  That gave me a lot of peace and comfort and the motivation to keep barreling out in the snow in -14 degree weather.

I know it is going to be hard for you not to cry and that is okay but let it be a happy time. I don't think I have truly known what the true meaning of Christmas was  till I have been out here during this time. As I sat driving in the car and listening to the lyrics of Josh Groban's song "Believe" I really thought about the lyrics and it is much deeper than believing in Santa Claus.....  " When we feel that we have lost our way...we find ourselves again on Christmas day." I love that verse. We know that we can look to the savior and not just remember his birth but what he has done for us even when we feel that we have lost our way. Christmas isn't a one day celebration it is a gift that is given to us 365 days a year....his Atonement. Thank goodness for Easter because there would be no Christmas. If there was no Atonement than the baby Jesus would be another baby born that day alongside the hundreds of other baby births in the Inn's where there was no room. There is no place I would rather be than here on my mission during these two years and more specifically during this time of year! 

We had zone conference this last week and wow that was amazing. Each zone which were about 6 put on a little Christmas skit. We were assigned to do a skit based on Silent night. We first started off by singing the hymn....but it gets better. Our zone leaders assigned me and Elder Chun to talk about silent night. We decided to make it funny and add some humor in it which was expected when the zone leaders chose me and and elder chun the two goofballs of the zone. Elder Chun is literally another version of Nic Padilla and funnier haha so we had fun with it. We pretended we were two angels that day looking down on the nativity scene. We told the audience to close their eyes and imagine this scene of the baby Jesus. I first started out by saying into the mic.....Elder Chun, do you remember that day....Yes Elder Brown I do...and you guys(the audience) were all there too. Then I said.... we were all cheerleaders chanting something like this. Then me and Elder Chun did this cheerleader chant as girly as could be hahha people laughed at that. Then we explained the nativity scene and Elder Chun asked....Hey Elder Brown, do you hear that....I said what?....Elder Chun said I hear a donkey I said... oh my gosh I hear it too,  then I said....wait a minute that's just President Mendenhall and everybody started dying of laughter.  We went on adding all these funny remarks and then concluded with our testimonies. That's probably the most I have ever made people laugh. Im starting to get comfortable with speaking in front of large audiences. Anyway that was fun, then we went into the chapel. I got to direct the choir and hold a choir practice way before people got there in the very beginning. I also was the accompanist for Elder Olsen who sang O Holy Night. MOM, HIS VOICE IS INCREDIBLE! and It sounded so good and made a lot of people cry. Then we had a special guest speaker and President and Sister M gave remarks. This lasted from 7-4:30 but an awesome day!  

That was this week.  Today is zone pday so we get together with the sisters at the stake center and are doing a white elephant gift exchange. My gifts are funny. The zone leaders used to call me eraser head when I first came into the zone area..Because my head was shaved completely on the sides and then I had hair up top like the shape of an eraser. That stopped when I got my new hair cut before zone conference which they think my hair is awesome because it is slicked back like David Beckam the hot Soccer player! So now they call me David Beckam. Anyway I bought two eraser heads and I wrapped it up and hopefully they get the gift hahaha! 

Anyway Thats all that i got! I love you so much I will email you the face time details saturday on pday....remember....not monday.....saturday! I love you Mom and Dad!         

Week 18!! 19 more days till I get to talk to you via Skype!

Hey mom!

Very successful week with investigators.  We had 26 lessons which is my record. Its not all about the numbers because they are souls,  but it was pretty cool to teach that many people. We tracked into this lady last week named Patricia who is a 40 year old catholic mom who is very devout and wasn't that interested.   I was very persistent in explaining that the bible is a record of people in Jerusalem and the Book of Mormon is an ancient account of the peoples dealings with God in America. I had her read the tiny gold letters under the BOM title which says, "another testament of Jesus Christ" She was very shocked and said that she would read.  To our surprise we set a return appointment with her. Although we set the appointment we didn't really know how interested she was but we gave her 3rd Nephi chpt. 11 to read. This week comes around and we showed up to her house for the appointment and she opens the door and says come on in. We were really shocked to find out that she had read chpt 10,11,12 and the restoration pamphlet and plan of salvation pamphlet and did even more research on it. She is thirsty for more knowledge and has a great gospel understanding. I love it when we have investigators that keep commitments. She is awesome!

We are also sharing light the world with people we meet and that is awesome also! We are finding tons of success with sharing the cards with people. I love sharing the video at dinner messages! Speaking of dinners we hardly get any but a lot coming up this week. Last night's devotional was really good. I felt a lot of peace and comfort from every ones messages. I thought about you guys while watching the devotional but I was comforted by the spirit.

 

Hey I got a huge package of food.  Thanks I needed that haha. Oh and I did get the package of music thank you!  I didn't open it,  the zone leaders still have it but I'm excited for it!  The best way to send me a package is to the mission office so I know I will get it on p-day because this week I have been checking for my package since Thursday and it just came last night so I was pretty nervous that I gave you the wrong address oh well its here. 

 

A tree a member gave us!!

 

The boots! Just get me a cheap pair that will keep my feet from getting soaked. I dont need it anytime soon. Only flurries for the next two weeks. They say the heavy snow doesn't come till Jan. Feb. and March. For Christmas I'm thinking Skype because Facetime can drop really quick. 19 more days I'm excited!!​

 

 I love you mom so much!! Have a good Christmas season and look to spread the gospel the best way you can do that is just acting as Christ would everyday. I promise when we do that our lights will shine so bright they will reach the darkest places! love you mom!

 

Elder Brown